This dissertation primarily studies reputation effects in internet auctions. It explores bidding fee auctions (BFAs) and the reputations within them, marketplace auctions and the reputations across them, and choice overload studies and the consistencies between them. The first chapter examines BFAs---an auction format in which bidders pay a fee every time they bid. In these auctions, the prize value diminishes as the auction progresses, and the person who pays the most does not necessarily win. BFA websites are an increasingly common way to shop online. In my sample of Swoopo.com auctions, there is heavy overbidding as revenues routinely double prize values. Even experienced users frequently earn negative returns. Despite this apparent violation of individual-rationality constraints, bidders generally respond to underlying economic incentives. I identify the aggressive strategies employed by savvy users and I interpret the causes of their (relative) success. In the second chapter, I consider the eBay feedback mechanism, which epitomizes trust-building systems in the anonymous world of online marketplaces. Despite many years of analysis, the feedback mechanism's efficacy is surprisingly poorly understood (Hasker and Sickles 2010). This paper helps fill the void. Using a dataset that is unique for its variety and longevity, this paper advances comprehension of the reputations process and, by extension, the nature of trust in anonymous settings. I find that recent rule changes---e.g., the barring of sellers from leaving neutral or negative feedback---have rekindled the importance of a good reputation for most products, although the record has been mixed. Finally, the third chapter conducts a meta-analysis of the choice overload phenomenon. Despite numerous studies investigating choice overload, recent meta-analytic research concluded that its main effect is non-significant and questioned the existence of reliable triggers. In contrast, my coauthors and I document a significant main effect and identity four key factors that reliably moderate overload. More importantly, we generalize these factors into a cohesive conceptual framework, quantify their impact, and compare their effect sizes to show that they can sufficiently predict choice overload.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/U0003508301 |
| Creators | Goodman, Joseph. |
| Publisher | Northwestern University. |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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